Antipsychotic News and Research

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Antipsychotics are medicines used to treat the symptoms of mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder (sometimes called manic-depressive illness), anxiety disorders, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sometimes medications are used with other treatments such as psychotherapy.

Protein SV2A levels could explain poor neuronal connections in schizophrenia

A team of researchers have found that persons with schizophrenia may have lower levels of certain specific proteins that show up on their brain scans. This could help as diagnostic tools, say experts. The new study titled, “Synaptic density marker SV2A is reduced in schizophrenia patients and unaffected by antipsychotics in rats”, is published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications.

14 Jan 2020

Long-term antipsychotic therapy for schizophrenia is safe

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and their colleagues in Germany, the USA and Finland have studied the safety of very long-term antipsychotic therapy for schizophrenia.

11 Jan 2020

Use of antipsychotic drugs is linked to brain injuries in Alzheimer's patients

Use of antipsychotic medications was associated with an increased risk of head injuries in a study of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

8 Jan 2020

Study explores the effect of antipsychotics on older hospitalized patients

Delirium (sudden confusion or a rapid change in mental state) remains a serious challenge for our health care system.

6 Jan 2020

Addictions and drug interactions common among patients not disclosing their medication history

Some patients skip telling their doctors about the drugs and medications they are consuming. A new study shows that these patients are at a greater risk of unpleasant and sometimes dangerous drug-drug interactions as well as addictions. The study was published in the latest issue of The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. The study is titled, “Role of opioid-involved drug interactions in chronic pain management”.

11 Dec 2019

Drug used to treat Parkinson’s shows potential as a dementia treatment

Drug used to treat hallucinations and delusions in Parkinson's shows promise as treatment for dementia-related psychosis (DRP).

5 Dec 2019

New computational method can help predict and design allosteric functions in proteins

Called the "second secret of life", allostery is one of the most fundamental processes of biology and has been a central focus among scientists across the life sciences spectrum, from fundamental biology to drug development.

3 Dec 2019

Software tool can predict how drugs can be combined to create effective treatments

With a shortage of new tuberculosis drugs in the pipeline, a software tool from the University of Michigan can predict how current drugs--including unlikely candidates--can be combined in new ways to create more effective treatments.

22 Nov 2019

Collaborative study shows sex-specific processes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Recent studies have found a high genetic similarity of the psychiatric diseases schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, whose disease-specific changes in brain cells show an overlap of more than 70 percent.

12 Nov 2019

For young people with psychosis, early intervention is crucial

Andrew Echeguren, 26, had his first psychotic episode when he was 15. He was working as an assistant coach at a summer soccer camp for kids when the lyrics coming out of his iPod suddenly morphed into racist and homophobic slurs, telling him to harm others — and himself.

6 Nov 2019

Does bipolar disorder increase the risk of Parkinson's disease?

A review published by the JAMA Network has found that the risk of Parkinson's disease is significantly higher in those with bipolar disorder.

18 Oct 2019

Novel clinical trial to examine use of cannabidiol in people with Parkinson's-related psychosis

A pioneering clinical trial will investigate the use of cannabidiol (CBD) - a compound found in the cannabis plant - in people with Parkinson's-related psychosis.

14 Oct 2019

UC San Diego's CMCR announces research grants to explore cannabis for medical applications

The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, the nation's oldest research center for scientific inquiry into the safety and efficacy of cannabis, has announced $3 million in research grants to explore new applications of cannabis for a number of novel medical applications.

11 Oct 2019

Antipsychotic use associated with higher accumulation of hospital days in Alzheimer's patients

People with Alzheimer's disease who used antipsychotic drugs had a higher number of accumulated hospital days than people with Alzheimer's disease who did not use antipsychotics, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland.

8 Oct 2019

Researchers investigate how to prevent the onset of schizophrenia using mouse model

Although predisposing processes occur earlier, schizophrenia breaks out at young adulthood, suggesting it might involve a pathological transition during late brain development in predisposed individuals.

9 Sep 2019

Study examines weight loss outcomes in individuals taking psychiatric medication

A new Canadian study suggests that individuals who take anti-depressants and/or anti-psychotics and participate in a weight management program can lose weight whether or not they take psychiatric medications, according to a report published online today in Obesity, the flagship journal of The Obesity Society.

23 Aug 2019

Study analyzes the prevalence of antipsychotic use in youths with ADHD

Although fewer young people with ADHD are treated with antipsychotic drugs than suspected, many prescriptions for the drugs do not appear to be clinically warranted, according to a new study from psychiatry researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

26 Jul 2019

Common medications can masquerade as dementia in seniors

By all accounts the woman, in her late 60s, appeared to have severe dementia. She was largely incoherent. Her short-term memory was terrible. She couldn't focus on questions that medical professionals asked her.

18 Jul 2019

People with bipolar disorder more likely to later develop Parkinson's disease

People who have bipolar disorder may be more likely to later develop Parkinson's disease than people who do not have bipolar disorder, according at a study published in the May 22, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

23 May 2019

How to find and use new federal ratings for rehab services at nursing homes

For the first time, the federal government is shining a spotlight on the quality of rehabilitation care at nursing homes — services used by nearly 2 million older adults each year.

16 May 2019